A Touch of Intention
with Nícole Shanté, LMT
Nícole's Story
Nicole’s work is rooted in a simple belief: when we slow down and truly listen to the body, it has an incredible ability to guide us back toward balance. Through therapeutic bodywork, energy awareness, and mindful presence, she helps clients reconnect with that innate intelligence.
A Calling to Be of Service
For as long as she can remember, Nicole has wanted her work to be meaningful, and something that genuinely helps people rather than simply filling the hours of a job.
Before discovering massage therapy, she moved between different schools and majors, searching for something that felt aligned but never quite finding it. She knew she wanted to do something that mattered, something that could truly be of service to others, but the path wasn’t clear yet.
The direction came unexpectedly when her older cousin, a massage therapist himself, suggested she attend a discovery workshop at the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy. He told her the environment might appeal to what he jokingly called her “hippie side.”
He was right.
Sitting on the floor in a circle with instructors and other prospective students, listening to conversations about the benefits and potential of therapeutic touch, something clicked. For the first time Nicole could see a path where helping people, working with the body, and supporting well-being could come together in a meaningful way.
She enrolled soon after.
During her time in massage school, Nicole was also chosen by her classmates to serve as their class representative, a role that allowed her to act as a liaison between students and faculty and further deepened her sense of commitment to the profession she was entering.
Fifteen Years of Experience
Nicole McGee
Licensed Massage Therapist
• 15+ years of professional bodywork experience
• Graduate of Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy
• Level III Reiki Practitioner & Energy Worker
• Certified Traditional Thai Massage Practitioner
• Lifelong student of Yoga and Yogic Philosophy
• Serving clients throughout Fairfield County
Nicole graduated from the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy in Westport and became a licensed massage therapist shortly afterward. Early in her career she worked in a local spa while also collaborating with other healthcare professionals, gaining valuable experience working with a wide variety of bodies, needs, and conditions.
For more than 15 years, she has been providing therapeutic bodywork throughout Fairfield County, helping clients relieve chronic tension, calm the nervous system, and reconnect with a sense of ease within their bodies.
Over time, Nicole’s work naturally evolved beyond technique alone and into a more integrative approach that considers the relationship between body, mind, and energy.
Integrating Bodywork and Energy Awareness
During massage school Nicole received her first Reiki training and attunement, which deepened her natural sensitivity to the body and its subtle energetic shifts. She later continued her studies through Reiki Levels II and III, expanding her understanding of how energetic balance can influence physical and emotional well-being.
She has also trained and certified in Traditional Thai Massage, sometimes called Thai Yoga Massage, an ancient healing system that combines rhythmic compression, targeted acupressure, and assisted stretching.
Thai bodywork works not only with the physical structures of the body, but also with the subtle energetic pathways of the body, encouraging movement and balance in both the muscular and energetic systems. It is both deeply relaxing and powerfully restorative.
Thai Massage remains one of Nicole’s favorite forms of bodywork, and she continues to explore ways of integrating its principles with therapeutic massage and energy work.
A Philosophy of the Body
Nicole believes the body is our most sacred and intelligent system.
It is the only home we live in for our entire lives, and it is constantly sensing, adapting, protecting, and communicating with us. Through the body we experience the world and maintain our connection to life around us.
Healing, in Nicole’s view, is not simply the absence of discomfort. It is the process of reconnecting with the body’s innate intelligence, and the natural ability it has to regulate, repair, and restore balance when given the right support.
Her work is centered on nurturing that intelligence: calming the nervous system, releasing long-held patterns of tension, and helping clients listen more closely to what their bodies are communicating.
A Lifelong Student of Yoga
Alongside her work as a bodyworker, Nicole has spent many years studying yoga and yogic philosophy, which have become an important influence on how she understands wellness and the human experience.
What began as a complement to physical exercise gradually opened the door to something deeper. Through yoga she discovered a system that speaks not only to the body, but to awareness, breath, and the inner experience of being human.
Nicole considers herself a lifelong student of yoga, continually learning and exploring its philosophical roots as well as its practical applications. These teachings have quietly shaped the way she approaches both her own life and her work with clients.
They inform her belief that caring for the body is not only about relieving pain or tension, but about cultivating awareness, balance, and connection.
What Clients Often Notice
Clients frequently comment first on Nicole’s presence.
Many describe feeling immediately at ease, even during their first session, noting how calm, grounded, and safe the environment feels. This sense of trust allows the body to relax more deeply and respond more readily to the work.
In terms of the bodywork itself, clients often remark that Nicole seems to naturally locate areas of tension or imbalance. Words like skilled, gifted, and deeply calming are commonly used, along with the observation that there is simply “something about her energy” that makes sessions feel different.
For Nicole, these responses reflect the intention she brings to every session: to meet each client with attention, care, and presence, allowing the body to guide the work as much as technique does.
An Invitation
Nicole’s work is designed for people who are ready to care for their bodies in a deeper way — not just to relieve tension, but to reconnect with themselves.
Each session is an opportunity to slow down, reset the nervous system, and support the body’s natural capacity for balance and healing.
A Personal Note
Nicole considers this work a lifelong practice of learning.
She continues to study yoga philosophy, bodywork techniques, and the evolving understanding of how the body, mind, and nervous system interact. Each new insight deepens her appreciation for the intelligence of the human body and the quiet power of attentive touch.
Being trusted with someone’s well-being is something she never takes lightly, and she approaches each session with the same intention: to offer a calm space where the body can rest, reset, and reconnect with its natural rhythms.